when your lights dont work
by exocara
Summary: [Guardian angel AU] For as long as Tsuna could remember, the man had always been there. He wore an all black suit and even had a black hat situated on top of his head.


_This is for hikaru! Also, if you want a good angel reborn fic, visit Dandelion-san's "we follow our own steps"._

* * *

For as long as Tsuna could remember, the man had always been there. He wore an all black suit and even had a black hat situated on top of his head.

The man was really weird. No one else seemed to be able to see him, and he didn't seem to bother much about other people as well. Tsuna could see people walk through him, and him walk through walls, but he had also witnessed the man pick things up and shove people aside.

And the only person he ever seemed to care about was Tsuna.

The two of them never really talked, never actually _looked_ at one another. Every time Tsuna wanted to approach the man, a silent force seemed to glue his feet to the spot and hold his mouth shut. Something within him just _refused_ to let him talk to the man. And so, he left the man alone, content to be able to peek at him from the corner of his eyes.

-o-

The first time they interacted was when Tsuna was two. His absentminded mother had left him alone on the second floor when the phone had rung, forgetting to put him in a cot. She didn't even shut the door in her distraction, desperate to pick up the phone in case it was her husband who had called. Wanting to stay with his mother, Tsuna toddled after her with uneasy steps.

And then he fell down the stairs.

It happened so quickly. Thinking that he was able to make the step like his mother, he put one foot down on a lower step and gravity did the rest. He didn't even have time to open his mouth and scream, the ground already rushing up to meet him.

Suddenly, there was a flash of black and Tsuna could _swear_ that he saw a few feathers fall to the ground. A warmth embraced him, filling him with the feeling of safety and comfort. Tsuna involuntarily closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was sitting on the ground at the foot of the stairs. His mother came back into view and the incident with the stairs was shoved to the back of his mind and forgotten.

-o-

The second time they interacted was when Tsuna was five. Their neighbours had a new dog and it _hated_ Tsuna. Everyone else said that it just wanted to play, but Tsuna knew better. There was no mercy, no love, no _positive emotion_ in the eyes of that dog. All it knew was how to inflict pain and _fear_.

The neighbour had visited the Sawada house, leaving the dog unleashed and unrestrained. Obviously, Tsuna wasn't happy with this. It was unfortunate that no one listened to him.

"Have fun playing with the dog, Tsu-kun!" his mother said cheerfully before entering the house with the neighbour. Tsuna wanted to cry. A bark from behind made him jump and whirl around, staring fearfully at the dog.

"S-s-s-st-stay…" Tsuna stuttered out. The dog didn't listened and bounded towards Tsuna eagerly, making Tsuna shriek. Without missing a beat, he turned and started to run. The dog gave a joyful yip and started to chase after him.

Without much thought, Tsuna dashed out of the house gate and into the road. Blinded by fear, he didn't exactly see where he was going and soon tripped over something rather large and warm, and fell onto it with a loud 'thump'.

A hostile growl came from under him, making Tsuna shake. Slowly, reluctantly, Tsuna looked below him to see _another_ dog. This dog was much bigger than his neighbours, and it also seemed a lot scarier, with sharper teeth and meaner eyes. Immediately, Tsuna shot off the dog.

And fell down.

The growl got louder, more menacing, and Tsuna whimpered. He turned so that he could look at the dog and tried to shift himself away at the same time. The dog was slowly moving towards him, snarling dangerously.

A black feather dropped in between Tsuna and the dog.

A loud 'bang', not unlike a gunshot, came from nowhere, making the the dog flinch and back away. The growls turned to whimpers and hostility became fear. The dog scurried away, tail between its legs, and Tsuna was left alone. From the corner of his eye, he saw black and quickly turned his head, trying to see what it was.

There was nothing, no one, beside Tsuna. Tsuna's eyes were drawn back to the spot where the black feather had been and saw that there was nothing there as well.

Just what had that been?

Tsuna knew he wasn't imagining things. Something – or someone – had helped him, and Tsuna was going to find out who it was.

From that day on, he would catch glimpses of a man in a black suit from the corner of his eye, but he would never actually be able to really _see_ him. Whenever something bad happened and Tsuna was left unscathed, or without severe injuries while everyone else had been badly hurt, he would _know_.

He had a guardian angel.

-o-

The last time it happened was when Tsuna was thirteen, going to be fourteen that year. School had just ended and Tsuna was walking home when he felt the familiar, safe presence behind him.

" _Don't go home."_

Tsuna stopped. That had been… a voice, right?

" _Stay here. It's dangerous."_

His guardian angel had never spoken to him before. Tsuna almost listened to him until he remembered that his mother was going to be staying at home.

"My mother…"

" _Stay here."_ The voice was insistent, but Tsuna couldn't listen to it. If it wasn't going to be safe at home, it meant that his mother was going to get hurt.

Tsuna had a guardian angel, yes, but the angel only cared about Tsuna. Tsuna realised this when he was nine and the excursion bus he was in got into an accident. The boy who had been sitting beside him died on impact, and the people in front and behind of him suffered from life-threatening injuries. Tsuna knew that he should have died too, but he only suffered from scratches and bruises. He knew that only reason he was still alive was because the angel had saved him. However…

The angel hadn't bothered to save the people around him.

Tsuna knew, in his heart, that his angel wouldn't save his mother.

"I'm sorry," he told his angel, and started to run.

-o-

"Mum!" Tsuna yelled as he ran into the house. Nana walked out of one of the rooms.

"Oh Tsu-kun, you're back," she commented. Tsuna didn't miss a beat as he grabbed onto her, tugging her out of the house.

"We need to leave, mum. We need to _go_ ," he said, panicked. His mother looked confused.

"Why do we need to go?" she asked, not budging. Tsuna was ready to tear his hair out.

"We just need to go, mum, we need to–" Something suddenly grabbed the back of his collar and tossed him to the side. He crashed through the windows just as something in the house blew up. He quickly scrambled to his feet after hitting the ground, adrenaline numbing his pain as he tried to get back into the house. Through the window, he could see his mother's terrified face. The house was burning and his mother was bleeding.

"Mum!" he cried out and tried to reach for her. Something held him back. He tried to break free. "No! I need– Mum!"

" _Stay. Here."_

Tsuna blinked and, through the haze of smoke and heat, he saw a man in black somewhere in the house. He tried to step closer, to take a closer look, but a hand landed on his shoulder and restrained him. It was his neighbour.

"Stay here, the fire department is coming," she told him. He shook his head rapidly, pointing back at the house.

"M-mother…" was all he could say. His neighbour shook her head, face grim.

"We can only wait for the fire department now."

Tsuna knew that the fire department wouldn't be able to arrive on time. He twisted out of his neighbour's grasp and ran towards the door of his house. To his utmost relief, he saw his mother stumble out of the house.

"Tsu-kun…" she said weakly. Tsuna quickly stepped forward to support her. Again, from the corner of his eyes, he saw black. This time, however, the sight did not bring any feelings of comfort.

" _I told you to stay there, you_ _ **idiot**_ _!"_

In front of him, he could see the burning house. A foreboding feeling built up inside of him and he started to back away, dragging his mother with him.

Again, he felt someone grab the back of his collar and throw him back. He tightened his grip on his mother, jerking her alone with him. The fire seemed to subside for a bit, before it burst into a raging inferno and the house literally _exploded_ , debris flying out in every direction. For a split second, he could see the man standing in front of them, great big shadows stretching out from his back in the vague shape of two large wings, and then he was gone.

…

Tsuna and his mother suffered from shallow scratches and minor burns. Everyone said that it had been a miracle, that they were insanely lucky, but Tsuna knew better.

-o-

He couldn't see his angel anymore, not even the little glimpses he used to catch. After two months, Tsuna came to the realisation that his angel was no longer with him.

-o-

A year later, they were living in another city under a fake name. The explosion hadn't been an accident.

His father was part of the mafia.

Tsuna knew that sooner or later, whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to be part of it as well. The heirs of the Vongola, a mafia family his father used to work for, had died and somehow left Tsuna as the only remaining heir. His father had protested against it, but his worries were swept aside. In desperation, Iemitsu had tried to smuggle his wife and son out of Namimori, right under Vongola's nose.

They hadn't liked that.

Tsuna was never meant to have reached home so soon. Nana should have been the only casualty in the explosion, a warning for Iemitsu and a push for Tsuna.

Now, Iemitsu had completely cut off communication with Nana and Tsuna, falsifying reports to show that they had died in the explosion. Vongola was off their trail, but Tsuna knew that it wouldn't be for forever.

Tsuna was still Tsuna, not wanting to change his name too much in case he couldn't respond to it. The only different was that he was Tsunahiko instead of Tsunayoshi.

He still went to school, his grades were still bad, he still couldn't do sports and…

His guardian angel was still gone.

-o-

"Tsu-kun!" his mother said cheerfully when Tsuna reached home. Tsuna paused, a bit surprised. She usually wasn't that cheerful, not since they had to move out of Namimori.

"Hello mum. Is something the matter?" Tsuna asked. Nana looked excited.

"I've hired a home tutor for you! There had been a rather interesting flyer in the mailbox. It went a bit like: 'I'll raise your kid to become the new leader of the next generation' or something. So I hired him!" she said. A year ago, Tsuna would have thought her foolish, and said that it was a scam. Now, however, Tsuna knew that Nana would have done extensive research on the tutor before even thinking of hiring them.

"I don't want a home tutor, though. What if we need to move again?" Nana grimaced at that.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Tsu-kun. I don't want… all this to affect your future," she said. Tsuna gave a wry laugh. Both of them knew that it was too late for that.

"Alright then," Tsuna said. "Let's try it."

-o-

The tutor was scheduled to arrive the next day. Tsuna put on generic clothes and tried to make himself seem inconspicuous and easily overlooked. If, on the off chance that Nana had missed something, the new tutor was not to be trusted, he would hopefully be unable to remember Tsuna's face.

Looking in the mirror, Tsuna tried to push his hair down. Failing that, he decided to put a beanie over it instead. The door rang and Tsuna paused, shaking slightly. Was this really okay? What if this person was bad?

With quiet steps, Tsuna walked to the door and opened it, making sure to keep his head down.

"Hello," he greeted shyly, eyes fixed on polished black dress shoes. "You must be the tutor."

"Yes I am," the person replied. Tsuna's head immediately snapped up. He had only heard this voice a handful of times, but there was no mistake.

A man wearing a black suit and fedora stood in the doorway, gazing at him with black eyes.

"You… you're…" Tsuna gaped. A smirk spread across the man's face as he stepped into the house and closed the door behind him.

"I'm supposedly safety and protection. I'm the one who got stuck with watching over your accident-prone self, but it was hard to do without a physical body." The man confidently strode into the living room as if he owned the place.

"You're my guardian angel…" Tsuna was still standing in the hallway, staring disbelievingly at the man. The man rolled his eyes and moved in front of Tsuna.

" My name is Reborn and you're right, I'm your guardian angel." A sadistic smile spread across his face, making a chill run down Tsuna's spine. "But right now, I'm also your tutor."

"You'd best be ready, Tsuna. I'm not going to leave you alone until I'm sure you can survive."

* * *

please don't ask me to continue this unless you have ideas because i sure don't

Still trying to find out if Reborn used to be a human, but then became an angel, or was always an angel. Something happened, but I'm not sure what. It was supposed to be short but yeah.

If you don't understand the last part, it's that Tsuna is definitely going to get pulled into the mafia world and reborn doesn't want him to die. Why? is it because of his job? is it because of personal reasons? who knows.

don't ask me about the title of this story. it was that or katekyo angel reborn.


End file.
